ISLAMABAD: Minister for Defence Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on Monday that Pakistan would explore other options to meet its defence needs if the F-16s deal with the United States did not materialise.

Talking to journalists after addressing a two-day international conference, he said that Pakistan was an independent and sovereign state and it could acquire defence-related products from other suitable markets of the world.

The conference, titled ‘Refugee crisis and its ramifications for global and national security’ was organised by South Asian Strategic Stability Institute University in collaboration with the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, National Security Division and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The minister said ups and downs in relations between Pakistan and the US were not an usual matter, adding that the overall bilateral ties were good.

Minister says ups and downs in bilateral relations not an unusual matter

He said the US had provided the aircraft to other countries and halting its supply to Pakistan was tantamount to injustice with it. He also highlighted importance of F-16s for Pakistan in its ongoing fight against terrorism.

Answering a question, Mr Asif said Dr Shakeel Afridi was a citizen of Pakistan and he was being tried in Pakistani courts, adding that no one would be allowed to interfere in internal matters of the country.

The minister said the process of repatriation of temporarily displaced persons of Waziristan was continuing at a fast pace.

During 1980s, Mr Asif said, a large number of Afghan refugees came to Pakistan and majority of them were still residing here, adding that Pakistan was playing a positive role in the repatriation of these refugees and bringing peace and stability to the neighbouring country.

Earlier, addressing the conference, Mr Asif said Pakistan shared a 2,560-kilometre long porous border with Afghanistan with over 200 unfrequented routes, which served as points for illicit trafficking of weapons, drugs and humans.

He said around 24,000 people from Afghanistan crossed into Pakistan from Khyber Agency alone per day and majority of them travelled without any legal documentation.

The minister said while the world was dealing with the Syrian crisis and its global ramifications, no country in the world could understand better than Pakistan the implications of refugee crisis and its ramifications for domestic as well international peace and stability.

The minister said the prevailing security situation in Afghanistan remained a challenge, with the Afghan government facing a number of problems, including an increase in opium production that helped finance the insurgency.

“On our part, Pakistan is making sincere efforts in bringing the Taliban militant group to the negotiating table and supporting the quadrilateral Afghan peace talks, but in the end it will be the Afghan government which will have to lead the process as it must be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led,” he stressed.

“This is being done to help the Afghan government achieve lasting peace in the country,” he added.

Referring to threats by the Afghan military hierarchy to carry out ‘hot pursuit’ actions in Pakistani territory, the defence minister said that any such action would get a befitting counter response.

He said the deterrence stability in South Asia was confronted by multiple and grievous challenges, ranging from new limited war fighting concepts in the shape of Cold Start Doctrine to acquisition of destabilising technology like ballistic missile defence system, nuclearisation of Indian Ocean and massive increase in India’s conventional defence spending — over $80 billion against Pakistan’s little over $6bn.

All these pushed the South Asian region towards perpetual instability, unless and until the relationship is not stabilised through deliberate efforts, he added.

“The idea of Cold Start Doctrine is based upon the notion of pre-emotive strike and calls for rapid deployment of ‘Integrated Battle Groups’.”

He said the India’s Cold Start Doctrine coupled with massive militarisation force had capability to increase the level of an arms race, hence raising the level of minimum deterrence stability in the region.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2016